Some introductory remarks going on... The documents available sofar are worth reading (see also the program)

Almunia speaking:- Turkey a fantastic country (I totally agree, sadly not part of the EU)- Crisis, we have to be even more determined- competition on the merits- less efficient firms should leave the market, even more so given the current times- markets should remain open, mergers not to be used as a protectionist tool- convergency important (stressed as a key message)

- global convergence in legal and economic analysis- Commission's role (also) of bringing cases useful for many countries- cross border trade important- specificities still exist but common principles should be established- unilateral conduct, role of the ICN-- share experiences-- Announcement: ICN discussing this topic in Brussels soon- each legal system can deliver good results- merger control has been facilitated- transparency of decisions important- reasoned decisions - consistency, predicatbility- ICN a success story (105 agencies)

- future?- Almunia's ideas:-- advocacy worldwide, especially in crisis-- projects important, if focused-- convergence worldwide: Best Practices should be developed further-- help to new agencies-- full representation of competition authorities should be achieved (some not ICN's members)Applause

- earlier: gathering info in order to share-- manage human resources, etc.- now: extract general, abstract guidelines (second phase)- handbook prepared-- tool to help agencies in their internal work-next: guidelines have been put into effect?- but the two phases (collect/assess) connected-- not stopping gathering info- next year-- work on second chapter (presented today)-- third chapter's draft (on knowledge management)

Merger Working Group:J. Robert Kramer II, Director of Operations and Civil Enforcement, U.S.Department of Justice, Antitrust Division- working on recommended practices going on-- East-West: inspiration for the working groups--- new way of working developed-- market definition and comments accompanying them--- only a tool (referred to market definition), possibly not decisive- hypothetical monopolist test incomporated- ways to implement RP- supply side substitution (where to put it?)- Failing Firm-- carefully assess counterfactual (what would happen if?)-- links to/role of the parent company?

Unilateral Conduct Working Group:Markus Lange, Head, International Section, German Bundeskartellamt- understand/promote convergence- analysis of refusal to deal-- questionnaire distributed-- good cooperation-- rtd: not specifically defined-- not only outright, also constructive (unreasonable terms)-- margin squeeze: topical subject-- 150 cases about it--- 300 ms not assessed-- general rule: freedom to contract--then, when to intervene (answer tomorrow)?- need of exchange among agencies felt- divergencies, but those can still be discussed on substantial terms (ICN's plus point)- future work-- new workgroup on unilateral conduct-- remedies-- divergencies not to be underestimated- implementation of past work- NGA's involvement

Kazuhiko Takeshima, ICN Vice Chair of Advocacy andImplementation- report of last year's very intensive work

William Kovacic, ICN Vice Chair of Outreach- technology-- blog--- coverage of activities--- visitorship increased---- more intensive use--- more than 70 countries--- use should be intensified!- Outreach toolkit-- slides on ICN's mission and objectives-- more detailed revue of workgroups' outcome

-- perhaps different distribution network-- different audiences (case level for the ICN)-- org output's assessment- possible tensions-- how to allocate limited resources- ICN: possibly more "bounding" of its members- ICN's technical assistance good, possibly even better if coordinated with different orgs (such as OECD)

How to work closer together (ICN-OECD)?- better transmission of info-- liason "slightly more formal"--- what's going on?-- channels of distribution- OECD's competition commission-- somebody in charge of summing up what ICN does-- outreach/technical assistance, difficult to be more informed (also because ICN doesn't have a Secretariat)-- more joint events--- at the content's level-- pedagogical material--- repackaging of OECD's material--- cooperation with the coming ICN's university

Planning for the ICN’s Second Decade: Setting the Stage for Breakout Sessions, Plenary- Vision, direction, implementation- Achievements (useful for the future: but how do we measure them?)-- efforts/contents/infrastructure/backbone for multilateral and bilateral discussions-negotiations among agencies-- common work on advocacy, important in recession, based on experience (e.g. Japan)- Respectful understanding of divergencies-- taking care of economic conditions

Difficul things ahead?Focus on the Working GroupsICN's critical factors- focus on competition- vertical structure- stakeholders' and agencies involvement- structure of the working groups